BBRae Week 2018, Day 5: In-Laws
by TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne
Summary: Enjoy


It was the end of another heroic day for the Titans. Brother Blood had teamed up with Cinderblock to steal a railroad car full of gold ingots. The heist thwarted, the Titans celebrated their victory at their favorite pizzeria. That had been a while ago and the hour was now late. Nightwing and Starfire, along with their daughter Mar'i, were the first ones to call it a night. Shortly after that Cyborg and his wife, Sarah Simms, also retired. Raven and Garfield, who now went by the hero name of Changeling and had tied the knot just a few month before, were the last ones still up. They sat together on the couch, Raven reading a book while her mate played Mega Monkeys by himself on the GameStation, with the sound politely muted.

After completing the level the changeling shut off the GameStation and yawned.

"I'm beat. You ready to hit the hay, Rave?"

She looked lost in thought and didn't seem to have heard him. He noticed that she was holding a small crystal ball in her hand.

"Hello? Gar to Raven … come in, Raven."

She looked up from the ball.

"Sorry, did you say something?"

He smiled. "Yeah, it's late. Let's go to bed."

"Yeah … sure." She replied in a distracted tone as she closed her book and pocketed the ball.

"Hey, something wrong? And what's with the crystal ball?"

"No … well, actually … yes, there is."

He sat up straight, unable to hide the concern he was suddenly feeling.

"Whoa, this sounds serious … what's the matter, mama?"

She swallowed and had an apprehensive look on her face. She fidgeted with her fingers before answering.

"Gar, there's something I've never told you."

He leaned back and a relaxed smile appeared on his face.

"That you don't really like sex?" He asked, with a hint of mischief in his voice.

She rolled her eyes and sighed unhappily.

"You know I love being intimate with you … Gar … this is serious, please; no jokes. Not now"

His expression changed. "Yeah, sure … so what's wrong?" He asked in a worried tone,

"Like I said, there's something I've never told you. Something I should have told you before we got married,"

"OK … how about you tell me now?"

She took his hand and caressed it very gently. "I'm really sorry I kept this from you ..."

His mind began to race. What was she going to tell him? That she was Aqualad's lover while they very briefly dated (as in for less one month). Whatever it was, he could tell not only by her body language and her scent that she was very worried about how he was going to take whatever news she was about to spring on him, but that the news was going to be bad, very bad.

"Gar … I have brothers." She said quickly before looking away from him.

"Brothers? You mean your parents had male versions of you?"

She turned back to face him and shook her head. "No, I was my mother's only child. My brothers are only half brothers."

"So … you're saying they're his kids?"

"I wouldn't call them kids. They're all about my age. He had each one with a different woman."

He rubbed his head, looking very bewildered. "Dang ... so, uh, are they nice like you?"

"No, not really. They take more after my father."

He frowned. "I see … so, why are you telling me this now?"

"They just contacted me via the crystal ball. They want to meet you."

"Why would they want to meet me?"

"Well, you did marry their sister."

"And that's a good thing, right?"

Raven didn't answer. She pulled the ball out of the folds of her cape and looked at it. Her normally blank face betrayed an emotion that rarely ever surfaced: fear.

"Raven?"

"I … I don't know."

The changing gulped. This was news was getting worse by the minute.

"So, you're saying they might not be happy about me being their brother in law?"

She looked up at him. He could see the concern in her eyes.

"They didn't say. All they told me was that they want to meet you."

"I see … so when is this family reunion?"

"They're on their way over right now."

"Wait, you mean like right now? Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I'm sorry, I just found out."

Gar got up and began to pace nervously around the common room. She recognized that he repeated a pattern over and over as he walked, looking around nervously, until he stopped and looked at her.

"How many brothers are we talking about? Are there any sisters?"

"I have six brothers, but no sisters .. collectively we're known as the seven deadly sins."

"Six brothers!" He yelped, before doing a double take. "Did you just say the seven deadly sins? Rave, you're not a sin!"

"I am my father's daughter, and for some reason I can bring out pride in people if I try, which I never do. But only three of my brothers are coming: Jacob, Jesse and Jared."

A weary sigh escaped his lips and he appeared to relax, if ever so slightly. "So just three scary demons are coming to check out the dude who married their sister … and I have nothing to worry about… Rave … this is a joke, right? You're just getting even with me for all the pranks I played on you, right?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Gar; I'm not joking."

His ears drooped. "Crud … oh well … how bad can it be?"

The entire Tower began to shake. The dishes in the kitchen cupboards clattered and his sensitive nose detected a hint of sulfur. Suddenly a cloud of dark smoke appeared before them, billowing out as if from a smokestack and flooding the room. The changeling held his breath and his eyes shivered as he waited, and he he didn't have to wait long. Three huge humanoids stepped out of the cloud of smoke. They each had four crimson eyes, were about 9 feet tall, had huge muscles with throbbing veins. They were dressed as if they were Hell Angels, though they looked as if they would crush any motorcycle that would have the misfortune of being mounted by any of them. The stench of brimstone permeated the the room. The three visitors sported sinister grins as they looked at Raven.

"Greetings, sister … so where is this husband of yours?" The biggest one spoke in a deep guttural voice, not even noticing the green changeling who was standing next to Raven.

"Dude! I'm right here!"

The three demons glanced at the changeling. Looks of disdain and contempt erupted from their faces. They looked back at their sister.

"Surely, this is a joke." The one named Jared growled. He wore a leather jacket with the words "Trigon's Devils" stenciled on the back,

"Raven, did you really take this puny mortal as your mate?" Jesse, who was wearing jeans with leather chaps and a wife beater, added.

"Does father know about this?" Jacob interjected, his arms crossed and with a sour expression on his face. He wore a biker helmet with steel spikes poking out.

Raven stepped up to her three brothers, who towered over her diminutive form. Her fists were clenched and her stance was defiant.

"Garfield is not puny."

"Garfield? What kind of name is that?" Jesse frowned as he looked at the changeling.

"It is the name of a weakling." Jacob spat out. "Tell us Raven, do you nurse him as if he were an infant?"

"Enough!" Raven shouted.

"It appears that Father's former favorite is annoyed." Jared sniggered.

"I was never his favorite. I was The Gem, a throw away offspring, sired for a single purpose."

"We were all disposable. But you did us a favor when you banished him, sister. We actually owe you a debt of gratitude. You freed us from his dominion."

"Then why are you here annoying and irritating me?"

Jacob stepped forward. "We were curious about who you chose. I have to say, sister, I was not expecting a green runt."

Garfield had been listening quietly, enduring their insults in large part for his own sake, but also for Raven's. At first he had hoped that their curiosity satisfied, they would get bored and leave. But it is said that every man has his breaking point, where he no longer cares what happens. And this was such a point. He charged forward, his fists tight and a scowl worthy of his wife on his face.

"I'm not a runt!"

The three brothers chuckled.

"Do not worry, little green man, we intend you no harm. And even if we did, Raven would not allow it, fortunately for you" Jesse remarked in a smug tone.

The changeling clenched his fists even tighter. "So what's your problem?"

Jared leaned over so that they were eye to eye. "Our problem, little one, is that since you married our sister we expect you to protect her."

"And you think I can't?"

"We know you can't. How could you? Just look at yourself!"

Jesse was the first to see the change in Garfield's eyes, which suddenly had a primal look. He began to grow and rend his outfit, which fell in tatters onto the floor. The transformation was sudden and he grew quickly. The brothers watched as a huge green leviathan was soon towering over them. Jared glanced at Raven, who seemed completely unsurprised with what was happening. Once The Beast finished growing he was twice as tall as any of the brothers and his muscles rippled in anticipation. He leaned down and snorted in Jared's face.

"Perhaps we have misjudged you, green one." Jacob said nervously, before turning to Raven. "We're impressed, sister, very impressed. It is also time for us to leave, though we will return another day with our other brothers."

Before she could say anything, her three brothers disappeared into a cloud of black smoke and were gone. Gar reverted to his human form, looking rather pleased with himself. He shook his fist at the now dissipating cloud of smoke.

"Yeah, you'd better run."

He noticed that his wife had something that was rarely seen: a seductive smile on her face. She took his hand and caressed his palm with her thumb.

"Are you ready for bed?" She asked.

He shook his head "I don't think so … your brothers are jerks, I'm so worked up that I don't think I can sleep now."

She leaned over and whispered in his ear.

"Who said anything about sleeping?"

THE END


End file.
